Wheel structure



. June 6r,A A1939. wl H HOFFMANN 2,161,351

WHEEL STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 19, 1937 INVENTOR WJW M ORNEYS Patented June 6,

s {PATENT} OFFICE WHEEL STRUCTURE n William ll. Hoffmann, Davenport, Iowa, assigner to French & Hecht,

tionhf Iowa Incorporated, a corpora- Appllcation October 19, 1937, Serial-No. 169,759

comms.

This inventionrelates to wheel structures, and

moreiparticularly to'wheel structures lof the demountable tire rim variety, wherein the rim is removably secured to the wheel body.

In a copending application for United States Letters Patent Ser. No. 169,755, there is disclosed. a demountable tire rim wheel structureL wherein the rim' is supported at one ofits side f edges by the wheel body and at its opposite side q edge by va circumferential series of bolts formed with rim engaging surfaces adapted vto effect the A'centering of therim with respect to the axis of the wheel when* the'bolts are anchored in'the wheelvbody to secure the rimk thereto. For the,

f purpose of holding the rim against circumferential movement relatively to the wheel body when' I a driving force is exerted thereon, a plurality of driving bolts are arranged to extend radially through the wheel felly at spaced intervals circumferentially thereof with their head Aportions engaging in recesses formed in the radially in- 'Y lnr surface of the rim.

Itis an object of thepresent invention to pr'ovide an improved wheel structure ofthis charac- 95 ter wherein common means is employed to serve the three-fold purpose of centering the rim with respect to the axis of the wheel, holding the rim against circumferential movement relatively to `the wheel body, and securing the rim to the wheel body.

To this end, the inventioncontemplates theviciiically, the wheelfstructure comprises a wheel'v v.body formed to supporta demountable` tirerim .wat onevof its sideedges ,anda circumferential series of bolts anchored in the wheel lbody and arranged to support the rim at its opposite [side Aedge, said opposite lside edge of the rim beingformed vwith a series of recesses in which the bolt f vheads areadapted to :engage and the bolt' heads being formed with opposed oppositely bevelledfsur-` facesadapted--to engagethe inner walls of the recesses 'in the rimand the radiallyouterl surfaces.

of a seriesfoi",lugslformed on the wheel vbody.

o When-,I-.rthe boltsare tightened-toanchor them to the-wheelfbody, their heads are adaptedto wedge f between ftheflugsjand :the inner/walls'of there- A cesses.; o'f=thelrim,';hus effectingr the centering.v of -the rim with-.respect tothe axis of thewheel and lu securingfthe to the wheel body;;'and the rer(ci. sol-zo) cesses .inthe side edge of the rim are formed so that the heads ofl the bolts nt closely between the side walls thereof to hold the rim against circumferential movement relatively to the wheel body.

In the accompanying drawing, the invention has been shown merely-by -way of example and in preferred form, but obviously many variations ,l and modifications may be made therein which will still be comprised within itsspirit. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not hunted to any specific form or embodiment except insofar as su'ch limitations arespecied in the appended claims. f

Referringtothe drawing: f A Fig. 1 is a radial cross section of the improved wheel structure taken yon the line I-I of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIgJZ is a side elevation. of a portion of the improved wheel structure;v and y Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view takenon the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, looking inthe direction of the arrows.

According to a preferred embodiment of the in.

vention, and as shown in the drawing, the wheel. structure comprisesa-wheel bodyJ on which a tire rim' 2 is removably mounted,` the rim being supported at one of its side edges i by the Vwheel body and at its opposite side edge by a plurality -rof bolts I anchored in the wheel body atspaced intervals circumferentlally thereof. f

'The wheel bodyI is of the disc typefcompris-f4 ing a disc 5 equipped with a hub 6 and having. a felly 1 formed as an integral continuation ofthe disc extending to one side thereof and terminating in ajradlally extending circumferential ange I. At spaced intervals vcircumferentially of the wheel body I, the telly I and contiguous portion of the disc 5 are thickened, as at 9, and formed .in these localized thickened. areasfor the support l of the rim 2. YEach thickened area 8y of the wheel body I is formed to provide bearing surfaces Il and II ex- -tending radially-slightly beyond the peripheral surface of the felly "I and flange k8, respectively, a boss I2 on theaxially inner side of the disc 5, and a'lug I3 on the axially outer side lof the disc 5. The bearingsurface III extends substantially horizontally acrossfthe Afelly "I, while the bearing surface II is ldisposedrat'an angle to the axis of the wheelandintersects the'bearing surface' I0 `at the `junction of the felly 1 andil'ange l. 'In order jto accommodate the bolt 4, the thickened f portion 9 is formed throughout a part of `its axial .fa recess IIFIgs. :1 and 3)"gand throughout thev extent and intermediate its side edges'toprovide y bolt head I8 moves relatively to the surface remainder of its extent it is. formed with an opening I5, the radially inner walls of the recess vI4 and opening I5 forming a continuous surface I'I disposed at an angle to the axis of thewheel, preferablygan angle of 60. 1

The bolt 4 is formed with a head I8 which is square in cross section and presents opposed oppositely bevelled surfaces I9, 28 and 2I, 22 and the opposite end of the bolt is formed with threads 23to'receive a nut 24:-'The bolt 4 is adapted for anchorage in the wheel body I' with the head I8 located between thev axially outer side edge 25 of the rim 2 and the surface I8 of the lug I3 and with the nut 24, threaded on the opposite end of the belt, engaging surface 26 of the boss I2.

A circumferential series of recesses H having` ment relatively-tothe wheel body, and securing therim to the wheel body. Moreover, the heads I8 of the bolts 4 which wedge between the rim '2vand lugs I3 are heavy' and durable and the only force on the shanks of the bolts is the tensioning force produced by tighteningthe nuts 24. Furthermore, another feature of prime importance lis that the only relative movement between the lugs I3 and rim 2 and the wedging surfaces of the bolt heads is that produced in .effecting thewedging action by a lengthwise movement of .the bolts, so that any wear will simply allowthe bolts to be drawn up further and present new vunworn portions of the surfaces in engagemntwith the vrim and lugs; and, when necessary, the bolts can be located to present the' side walls 28 andinner walls 29 are formed in the side edge v2li of the rim 2, the number and -spacing ofthe recesses corresponding to the number and spacing of the bolts 4. The bolt heads I8 are-adapted to engage in the recesses 2l and fit closely between the side walls 28 thereof, whereby the bolt 4, being confined between the side walls `of the recess I4 and thus held-against circumferential movement relatively to the .wheel'.body, serve tohold the rim against such relative `mofement when a driving forceis exerted on the wheel. n

The inner walls 29 of the recess are preferably inclined. for two purposes, namely, to provide a large bearing surface for'the surface I8 of the bolt heads to engage and to render the formation of therecessesas deep as possible with but a slight alteration, of the ,shape ofthe side edge 25 of the rim. -It will also be noted that the surfaces I6 of the lugs I3 are formed at an angle to the surfaces II to provide llarge bearing sur-v faces for the bolt heads ,|8; and that the openings I5 are radially elongated to permit the bolts 4 to shift radially bodily as the surface 20 ofthe I6 of the lug I3 when the bolt is tightened. In mounting the rim 2 on the wheelbody I, the rim is located to rest loosely on one or more of the bearingsurfacesl I0,gdepending upon the disposition of the wheel body at the time,c with the recesses 2I.in the rim in substantial alignment with the recesses in the wheel body, the bolts .4 then inserted in place and the nuts 24 threaded on-the ends of the bolts to draw the surfaces I8 and-20 of the head portions I8 into engagement with inner lwalls 29 of the recesses 21 in the rim 2 and the surfaces I8 of vthelugrs es I3, respectively. Further tighteningof the nuts 24 on the bolts 4 draws the latter lengthwise (towardthe left in Fig. x1) and the wedging of the oppositely bevelled surfaces I9 and 28 of the bolt heads I8 between the rim 2 and lugs I3 effectsa lateral and radial thrust on the rim 2, causing its edges 3 and 25to ride up the bearing surfaces II and the surfaces I9 of the bolt heads I8, respectively, thus centering the rim 2 with respect to, the` axis of the wheel and at the same time securing it to the wheel body I. bevelled surface 20 of the bolt head I8 engaging the surface I8 of the lug AI3 causes the bolt 4to shift bodily radially, and this movementis per- The 'other opposed surfaces 24 and 25 toeifect the wedging action. A1so,thewedging surfaces can be reconditioned, if desirable, by forging the heads of the bolts and regrinding the surfaces thereof. l

As already stated, a,` preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described and obviously many variations and modifications of the invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. For example, the invention mayfbe embodied aswell in a fellyless wheel as in a Wheel having a felly. Actually, the arrangement of the preferred embodiment is a combination of the two, since'the wheel body is formed with a continuous/felly portion for strength and other purposes,'yet the rim supporting surfaces on the wheel body to support the rim centered with respect to the axis of the wheel, a circumferential series of apertures formed in the wheel body, a plurality of rim securing members formed with tapered rim engaging portions and arranged in said apertures at an angle to the axis of the wheel, and fastening means to move the rim securing members`axially` and radially inward relatively to the wheel body and rim to forceV theA rim axially and radially outward and secure it n it's centering support, the rim being formed with means adapted for interfittingengagement withA said-'rim securing members so that the members mitted by the radially elongated opening I5, as'

hold the rim against circumferential movement .relatively to the wheel body.

of the rim securing members are adapted to fit.

3. In a wheelstructure, the combination cfa demountable rim, a wheel body, meansv formed on the wheel body to support the rim centered with -respect to the axis of the wheel,a circumferential series of bolt holes formed in the wheel body, lugs formed on one side of the wheel body .adjacent the bolt holes, surfaces. adjacent the boltholes on the opposite side of the 'wheel body extending at an angle tothe axis of the wheel and against which fastening nuts are adapted to bear, bolts arranged in the bolt holes with Itheir longitudinal axes disposed at an angle to the axis of the wheel,

2,161,351 ,l 3 said bolts being formed with heads presenting bolts and bearing against said angularly disposed tapered rim engaging surfaces, recesses formed in surfaces to hold the tapered bolt heads wedged the rim in which the tapered heads of said bolts between said lugs and the rim to secure the t, said recesses presenting inner surfaces against ,Y latter to its centering support. which the rim engaging surfaces of tapered bolt heads bear, and fastening nuts screwed on the l W'ILLIAM H. HOFFMANN. 

